Originally Posted by
Bart
I see now that you disagree with what I consider the cornerstone of this honing procedure.
In that case, this whole thing must indeed sound completely absurd to you.
But I have to disagree. Working a narrow strip of steel makes a big difference. In fact, the very concept of hollow ground razors relies on this principle. Tim, another Belgian member of SRP, became a friend after I met him here. He owns a Dubl'Duck Goldedge. Last time we met he told me how easily this razor takes a keen edge on just his Coticule with water, while he finds it much more challenging to achieve good keenness on his other razors. I don't doubt that the excellent steel and temper of the Dubl'Duck contributes to it taking such a great edge, but I also noticed that this razor is ground remarkably thin and carries a very narrow bevel. I have witnessed the same great responsiveness to the Coticule-with-water on other razors with a very narrow bevel. I can't regrind all my razors, but I can add a layer of tape, late in the honing progression, and cut a narrow secondary bevel for the creating of the final edge on the Coticule with water.
Thats is the basic idea about my procedure.
About my sandpaper analogy: I'm not talking about wearing out the sandpaper. With fresh 600 grit sandpaper, it's impossible to sand 1 mm deep into a wooden table top. If you use the same piece of sandpaper on the hard edges of the same table top, you can get that 1 mm of stock removal in no time. It all comes down on how much the pressure disperses over the surface to be abraded. On razors we can't rely on much pressure, because the edge will flex. Something we must cetainly avoid during the final stages of honing. Narrowing down the contact surface by introducing a slightly altered bevel angle, lends the Coticule-with-water the bite it lacks on wider bevels to achieve a meaningful edge refinement.
I am absolutely certain that this is a sound theory, and that it could at least pass as a worthy hypothesis for the experiments I ran, prior to posting this thread. This procedure works for me in practice, and I'm anxious to find out if it works for others as well. Many of us own Coticules and like honing on them. I can't really see no wrong in trying to get the best out of them. Maybe that someone else can translate the basic principles behind my ideas in a more understandable English. I really did my very best.
Kind regards,
Bart.